In an early episode of Ted Lasso, the new Apple TV+ comedy about a fictional Division II college football coach from Kansas (Jason Sudeikis) hired to lead a struggling English Premier League Team, an uptight journalist details Ted’s many flaws, but determines that he “can’t help but root for him.” It’s the perfect way to describe the new series developed by Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence (Scrubs), Joe Kelly, and Brendan Hunt (who co-stars as Lasso’s strong, silent assistant Coach Beard); Ted Lasso may not be the comedy that will make Apple TV+ a must-have, but it’s a charming, easy watch that you’ll want to cheer for whether you’re a sports fan or not.
Much of this is a credit to Sudeikis. The Ted Lasso character was originally created for a series of NBC Sports commercials that aired in 2013-14 promoting the network’s coverage of the Premier League. In them, Sudeikis played the American fish-out-of-water coach as more of an ignorant, macho blowhard. For the series, Lasso is retooled as the epitome of a nice guy, like if you combined Jimmy Stewart, Tom Hanks, and Mr. Rogers.
Ted Lasso is so pleasant and optimistic, he makes Leslie Knope look like a curmudgeon by comparison. Folksy, thoughtful, and almost aggressively friendly, Lasso’s coaching style is all about teambuilding; it almost doesn’t matter that he doesn’t know the first thing about football. The character is practically impossible not to like, and in a time of so much anxiety and frustration, it’s refreshing to spend time with someone like Ted. Since his time ended on SNL, Sudeikis has played the lovable screwup in his feature film successes (Horrible Bosses, We’re the Millers) but this feels like the perfect use of his comedic persona much in the same way that this year’s Palm Springs tapped into the best qualities of his former co-worker Andy Samberg.
To sustain the “nice guy in way over his head” story, Ted Lasso borrows from the plot of Major League, introducing the viewers to team owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham). Rebecca is cold, callous, and purposely trying to sabotage the team by hiring Lasso. However, she’s not just cartoonishly evil; Rebecca is motivated to tank the club in an effort to hurt her caddish ex-husband who loved the squad dearly. Humanizing the ostensible villain works to the series advantage and makes her relationship with Ted far more interesting. The more we learn about Rebecca, the more we come to appreciate the boss as much as Ted does.
